My Journey into Writing
-The path I took to reach the stars
I can't remember when I haven't had a mind that thought up stories or dreamed of the impossible happening in my own life. There are some cringeworthy attempts from my teenage years that will never see the light of day. (Though one idea might evolve into something one day... at that time I was afraid to add too much drama into the story and when I had the opportunity to add drama, I turned away from it.)
In 2003 I found the world of fanfiction, had watched the TV show Dr. Quinn, and did a search online for things about this show and found a page with fanfiction. I dived right in and have never resurfaced again. I've dived into every favorite movie or TV show over the years; some I stayed longer than others. I did attempt to write in Dr. Quinn, Harry Potter, NCIS, and The Sound of Music, and now for the past two years I have been drowning in Once Upon a Time fanfiction... In this fandom, I met some fabulous women who also have a passion for writing. My dear friend Jessica introduced me to a piece of music that fits right into a fanfiction I was planning, and suddenly that story turned into the WIP I'm currently working on. It took a life of its own, and here I am, attempting the daunting task of actually writing a NOVEL.
I started on Within Arm's Reach in the beginning of May 2020 (that is when the word doc was created.) Later I moved the story to Google Docs, and five years later I'm finally ready to publish my first book.
2026 UPDATE: I did start the process of writing the sequel, "Within His Heart," back in 2022; that is where I have the first draft version. That version was scrapped, archived, and left behind in September 2024. It even had an attempted v2.0... but the plot didn't work right. A lot was off... so in September 2024 I started what I call a brand-new version, a NEW plot, a new location, everything... for simplicity I called it WHH v 3.0. That plot is the grounding plan for the story that is still very much a work in progress. But it's getting closer, and with a boatload more edits, it will be ready to go out into the world.